3 best IPL hundreds that came in a losing cause
Scoring a century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is a special achievement most players can only dream of. Such is the nature of the league and T20 cricket, that even when a player does score a century, he might not end up on the winning side.
On Thursday (18th May), we witnessed history in the IPL 2023 with two players from different oppositions scoring centuries. Heinrich Klaasen scored a fabulous hundred for the Sunrisers Hyderabad before it was eclipsed by a hundred from the former Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, Virat Kohli.
In fact, the Indian great now has the most centuries in the history of the IPL, joint-best with Chris Gayle at six tons. It was a maiden IPL ton for the South African though, and even though there is an argument that his knock was the better of the two, Klaasen's team ended up on the losing side.
On that note, we take a look at three of the best hundreds in the IPL that came in a losing cause:
#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal
The southpaw has been in sensational form in the IPL 2023 and has been scoring runs for fun this season. Yashasvi Jaiswal notched up his maiden century in the cash-rich league in the group stage match against the Mumbai Indians, at his state team home ground, the Wankhede Stadium.
Despite losing the game, Jaiswal won the Player of the Match award for his performance in this contest, and deservingly so. With the Rajasthan Royals batting first, the 21-year-old scored a sensational ton to singlehandedly carry his side to a total of 212.
Jaiswal scored 124 runs in 62 balls, while no other batter in the team scored more than 18 runs. The next highest run scorer for the team were in fact extras, with the Mumbai Indians dishing out 25 of them. RR might have not won the game but their opener certainly showed he's here to stay after a performance like that.
#2 Wriddhiman Saha
Saha is the first man to ever score a centruy in an IPL final. What a time to step up. #KXIP #KXIPvsKKR
Wriddhiman Saha made a vital contribution to the Kings XI Punjab when the team made it into the finals of the IPL in 2014. That's the closest they have come to winning the tournament, and it was all set up by their wicketkeeper scoring a brilliant century in the final.
Batting in the middle order and walking in at 30-2, Saha unleashed on the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers to motor along his way to a 55-ball-115. The stupendous knock carried his side to a total of 199/4, which seemingly seemed that it would be enough on the day.
However, KKR had other plans. Led by Manish Pandey's 94 and heroics from Piyush Chawla in the final over, they won a thrilling final by three wickets with three balls to spare. Saha produced one of the great knocks in a final but still, unfortunately, ended up on the losing side.
#3 Yusuf Pathan
Happy birthday Yusuf Pathan! 🎂
In 2010, he struck a 37-ball century for Rajasthan Royals, which is still the second fastest IPL hundred 😮 https://t.co/VUpW7ePgEQ
Yusuf Pathan was a wrecking force in the shortest format of the game and was one of the key components in helping the Rajasthan Royals win the title in the inaugural season of the IPL. The Indian all-rounder belted a 37-ball century against the Mumbai Indians in 2010, putting on a show at the Wankhede Stadium.
Having to chase a mammoth target of 213, he walked in to bat with his team at 40/3 in the seventh over. From there, he absolutely laid into the Mumbai bowlers, dispatching them all around the park, hitting nine fours and eight sixes on the way to his landmark.
He was eventually run out at a crucial time in the game and that helped the Mumbai Indians get over the line by a margin of four runs. One can only imagine that Pathan would have sealed the deal if he wasn't run out, but unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.